Cara

Two of my dogs got bitten by aDiamondback on Sunday night in our yard...the same snake my husband nearly stepped on in the dark two nights before, and he still hasn't been caught. My Bloodhound has to have surgery this morning to remove part of her lipbecause it has turned necrotic, and she has a hole through her cheek.

Does anyone know if there is any kind of snakeproof vest made for dogs to protect their heart from a bite? Luckily (?) they both took it on the nose, and I am worried about them running over a snake while working. Does anyone have any surefire tips for creating a snakeproof enclosure for them?

springerDIVA

Don't know what part of Texas you're in but sounds like West of 35.
The Lone Star GSP Club will be holding a snake proofing clinic on 08/04/2007. Info is on their site
www.lsgspc.org

We've taken our dogs to these clinics for years. Get to start with the new pup this year, poor baby he's gonna hate it but I'll feel better about taking him out once he gets a bit of an education on these demons. They do a great job. If you can't make it you might try to find a local bird dog trainer. Many times they'll hold one of these sessions, usually before dove/quail season when most of these instances occur.

If you need to find someone closer to home let me know. Might be able to direct you.

Cara

Thanks. I am actually in north eastern New Mexico now, about 50 miles north of Tucumcari.The twodogs are not hunters, I train them for Search and Rescue with a group out of Amarillo TX, and every year the group has snake aversion training. Just my luck I joined afterthe man hadbeen last year, and I believe he is coming to the Amarillo Bird Dog Club (?) in August or September. I'll either have to find someone to take them to before then, or they will have to spenda lot of time indoors until he comes. You'd think they'dlearn, but now one of them is feeling much betterthe first thing she does when she gets outside is look for that snake.

springerDIVA

The way this group does it is in 2 stations. First station is a scent and sight station. Once dogsees & smells the snake (we have more than just rattlers) theygethit with the collar. The second station is scent, sight and sound station. So that when the dog goes in on the sound the get a big old bolt to simulate the pain associated with the snake bite. So that all the senses tell him you need to get the heck out of Dodge.

If you do it this year you MUST do it again next year. Depending on the dog you may be able to take a year off. Living where you do though I wouldn't.

My 9 year old knows as soon as we pull up what's going to happen. Her whole personality changes, her head drops and she doesn't want to leave the truck. She's gone 5 out of 8 years. She'll go for a reminder this year.
We never dispatch a snake in front of our dogs becase everything they see us kill they're supposed to go get, "complete the harvest".
I hate snakes! Good luck!

cascadedad

Cara, sorry to hear about your dogs, that stinks.

Diva, it sounds like if your dog's personality changes when you get to the place where the training occurs, that is less than ideal. Your dog understands that this is a training facility and is on high alert. It knows what is going to happen. May react differently in the "real world". I think it would be better if the training location changed every year.

But, I am no expert. Glad I don't have to deal with snakes.

txhunt

I’m sorry to hear about your dogs I hope they will be ok. I hunt around Lubbock and we see plenty of snakes as well. So far they have not been a problem but I would also like to find a snake avoidance class. My vet suggested our dog get a rattlesnake vaccine after several dogs were bitten around Lubbock. She gets the shot yearly in August at the same time she gets her rabies booster. It is not a cure for snakebite but it does lessen the severity and would probably be cheaper then a snake proof vest.

Cara

Thanks for your good wishes. One of the dogs got bitten twice, but she is much younger and is almost back to normal already, other than the wound on her nose. The vet changed her mind about operating on my Bloodhound, and instead offered to keep her in until at least Tuesday and keep her wounds flushed. We can have her back home when it is more manageable for us. That was a great relief to know that she'll have a vet keeping an eye on her for the next few days, but I can't help butfeel bad for her in those noisy kennels without anyone familiar. The vet was nice enough to suggest we brought her bed in so she had a familiar smell. Bothof the dogs came from the pound, and I neverboard them because I worry that they will thinkthey are back there. I'm probably more upset about it than she is though.

txhunt, i'd be more than happy to let you know when I know more about the Amarillo Bird Dog Club snake avoidance, if that would not be too far for you. Most of the other search and rescue dogs have gone through it, and you can tell when they see any kind of snake in the field. The training is just as useful for keeping humans safe as dogs..I just wish mine had had a chance at it first. I had no idea how much tissue damage a bite could cause, especially since they were at the vet within 2 hrs.

Cara

The 'before'

springerDIVA

Poor baby. Unfortunately that's too familiar.

Cascade Dad my point about theseasonedsnake proofed dog was that once the SUV door opens and she smells the snakes (at the proofing grounds) she wants the heck out. Meaning that she has gotten the point but she goes for a refresher just because of what you see above.

Cara, we have friends in the Austin area who have done the vaccines. We're talking with our vet now about doint them for our guys. I know some retriever folks who have them done too. You should look in to them especially if your doing SAR.

Hope your Flat and BH recover fully soon.

huntnma

wow, thats so sad, just look at that face......your bloodhound is beautiful....